Wichita eagle., 1887-11-04
S A s
X NJ Y
X P. o. F. E r E \ S.

Ii was HO WOHOGI llidJ NAH L " ct1ti
with his love for mischief and his total
disregard of things sacred turned the
crude handwriting of Columbus, whose
family name was Ferens, into ridicule
There was likewise a memorandum, On
the same handwriting as the body
Of the letters. The book which
was nearly an inch thick,
was a gift to Columbus from Queen lisa
/ bella. Its leaves We're of parchment
| Transcribed in the most beautiful hand
writing | ever saw. Each chapter COM
menced with an Illuminated capital, and
every letter was as perfect as If 1t had
come from the press. Strange to say
neither the guide nor the custodian could
! tell me what its contents related 10. 1t
appears that Columbus was a man of
! some means. as his letter to the bank. so
/ the guide said, was in reference to the
/ disposal of his funds deposited there.
whilst he was in prison. We We're taken
around to the old bank which now serves
as custom house. 1t is approached by
/ a long flight of stone steps, the corridor
as well as the banking room, is embel-
| lished with full life size marble statues of
/ the old bank presidents and other persons
/ of note in Genva of any period.
| The guide informed US that the authori-
ties had recently discovered that Column
bus was native of Genoa,
and he would show us the
/ SO we followed his leadership through
various narrow, winding streets,
| where the houses from the opposite sides
almost touched, and which were 50
crowded by the teeming population Of
~, 10
exceedingly slow work. At length he
| halted before narrow four-Story build
| ing showing evidences of great age. and,
pointing to the second story, said: Here
the great Christopher C6lumb0 was
born" There was a marble tablet fas-
tened to the wall with an inscription IN
| in Italian. but the only words we could
translate into English was the name Of
Columbus. 1t may be that the guide was
hOaxing us. but [ relate the incident for
what it is worth. The fine monument
which Genoa erected TO the memory of
Columbus stands near the railway sta
ton. 1t was placed there in 1862 and
represents America kneeling at the feet
of Columbus. with sitting allegOrical fig
ures of Wisdom, Religion, Geography
and Strength. Each of these occupy the
lumbus.
We spent an hour or two very pleas
antly in the gardens Of Dinegro and
Rosayza. If these We're gardens OF the
orthodox style | should not consume time
and your patience in attempting TO deS-
cribe them. but they are not. Genoa Is
built on the rocky declivities that in a
crescent surround the gulf. These gar
dens, you might say, We're hewn out OF
the rock in the shape OF terraces and
earth conveyed hither and filled IN at
great expense. They are traver5ed by
winding paths and numerous steps which
lead through prOfuSiOn Of flower beds,
senli-trOpical plants and shrubs. orange
and lemon. palm and date, camphOr, pep
per. and | might almost exhaust the Cata-
logue of trees common to a southern lati-
tude. Besides, there are numerous fOun-
tainS. statues, cascades and grOttOes, and
when you have assembled in the ROsazze
garden to a height Of 270 feet, you lave
noble panorama spread aout
before you: the amphitheatrical city
ond the beautiful harbOr, where
the flag Of almost every nation may be
seen futtering from the tall spars in the
shipping. Dinegro at his death bequeath-
ed his lovely garden and fine museum to
the city. and great pride is taken in keep
ing it up to the standard designed By Its
founder.
But to my mind the most attractive
feature of Genoa IS It's Campo Santo or
burial ground It hes distant from the
city about one and one-haf miles, end
unquestionably bears away the palm for
from any other city in the world for
novelty. grandeur and sublinity as APP
piled to a burial place for the dead. 1t
is in the form of an immense cloister or
square. each side has an arcade probably
one thousand feet long and twenty feet
wide. The arcade as Won enter. Is on
that side double. The first contains the
bones Of the middle class. designated
merely by a suitable inscription over the
slab if buried beneath the pavement. or
in tablets if at the sides. The inner
arcades contain the bones Of
the wealthy and distinguished
Spaces are allotted on either
side. and here are the most magnificent
tombs. aside from few isolated cases. /
have seen in Europe. If all the statu-
airy I have seen in the galleries Of Europe
were collected in one immense hall, il
seems to me that it could not equal the
superb pieces Of statuary either IN num-
bers or ssskiliful workmanship, that beau
tifv Genoa's "Hoiv Field. You pass
from one ideal to another stupefied with
astOnishment. The figures are nearly all
life size and if delineatirZ the form. fea-
lures. style of dress and expression Of
emotion. in Partisan marble is a work Of
art. then II Is here attained in It's highest
perfection. 1 VIII cite bot few ex-
ampIes:
\ widow reclines on the coffin ri her
deceased husband her attitude and ex-
preston are that Of mute despair. n
her hand Is q bunch Of peoples which
signifies that her grief Is too heavy To b.
borne. Sae has come there To die Of .
poison. Another represents a doorway; +
the face 81 the husband ard
father stbnds out from II N
basreiief The widow sands n .
front holding uo her BABE .
70 kiss the marble lips. her other child F.
kneels bv her side. Another represents an .
angel clad IL d coat Of mail le2uIng On
his sword. be stands IN the door and hls
attitude and bearing suggests the speeciI
Z he could utter II Il stand guard oTeT
this tomb. On either SIDE AZ the foot II
the tomb stand two angels IN white.
Another. and the last che shall name.
: a boat with Iu1st unfuTsed and Ia y al
angle sweet on the scat l. a pillar ulII-
med with lace see1nIngly-tae wno3e
about ten fest long. four feeE vide and
sIEht feet high, scui gSuEezi oEr Of 4 single
block II marble On the opposite side Il
his arcade i q handsonls chapel. bgt the
ios9Ts were CLOSED before yTe ressches3 H.
fhs- s1rids. Sz5d Il contained rsssxax s1atzse1